Effects on muscle strength, maximal jump height, flexibility and postural sway after soccer and Zumba exercise among female hospital employees: a 9-month randomised controlled trial

ABSTRACT

This 9-month randomised controlled workplace physical activity trial investigated the effects of soccer and Zumba exercise, respectively, on muscle strength, maximal jump height, sit-and-reach flexibility and postural sway among female workers. A total of 107 female hospital employees aged 25–63 were cluster-randomised to a soccer group, a Zumba group or a control group. Training was conducted outside working hours as two to three 1-h weekly sessions the first 3 months and once a week the last 6 months. Tests were conducted at baseline, after 3 and 9 months. The soccer group improved maximal neck extension strength both after 3 (1.2 kg; P < 0.05) and 9 months (1.7 kg; P < 0.01) compared to the control group. The Zumba group improved maximal trunk extension strength (3.1 kg; P = 0.04) after 3 months, with improvements in postural sway velocity moment (−9.2 mm²/s; P < 0.05) and lower limb lean mass (0.4 kg; P < 0.05) after 9 months. No significant intervention effects were revealed in vertical jump height or sit-and-reach flexibility. The present study indicates that workplace-initiated soccer and Zumba exercise may be beneficial for improvement of the neck and trunk strength, which may have preventive effects with regard to future perceived muscle pain in the respective body regions. Furthermore, the Zumba group revealed positive effects on lower limb lean mass and postural sway compared to the control group.

KEYWORDS:

• Body composition
• muscle strength
• postural sway
• soccer
• football
• Zumba

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all participants as well as Nordland Hospital, Bodø (Norway), Stamina Fitness Centre, Bodø (Norway), Municipality of Bodø (Norway), and University of Nordland, Bodø (Norway). Special thanks are due to Dorte Ekner, Dora Thalberg, Ingrid Haugen, Johnny Skarstein, Lill-Tordis Valle Eidshaug, Ida Gunnarsen and Vebjørn Rånes for excellent assistance during the different test periods.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The study was supported by grants from Nordland Hospital (Norway), University of Nordland (Norway), University of Copenhagen (Denmark), and Stamina Fitness Centre (Norway).